João Lourenço left, this Tuesday, for the China Popular Republic for an official visit to China, at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the president of the Angola-China Chamber of Commerce, Luís Cupenala, highlighted the "quite historic" significance of this visit, in the political and diplomatic relations of the two countries, whose 40th anniversary was celebrated last year, as well as well as 13 years of cooperation and strategic partnership.
Luís Cupenala highlighted that, at the end of this 40-year cycle, in which China supported the reconstruction of strategic infrastructures for the revitalization of the Angolan economy, a new chapter begins, marked by several visits, in 2023, by Chinese and of the head of the Chinese Communist Party.
"Relations between Angola and China go back 40 years and have a very great weight at the level of our economy due to China's contribution fundamentally to national reconstruction and, on the other hand, the weight of Chinese companies that operate in our economy, with the construction of factories, shopping centers, very aggressive investments, which give a new configuration to our economy", he highlighted.
The leader of the Angola-China Chamber of Commerce pointed out as one of the highlights of João Lourenço's visit to China the signing of an agreement between the two countries in the area of agriculture, which he considered "fundamental" for increasing food security, production internal and export, to capture foreign exchange.
Alongside the theme of agriculture, another forum will be held on the mining sector, important, according to Luís Cupenala, for increasing the exploitation of these natural resources, in which all the big Chinese businessmen already present in the country will be present.
"China needs to feed its industry and needs these resources. Angolans must present these resources in the international showcase so that they can attract partners, who make quality investments for the extraction and transformation of these ores", he said.
On this visit, Luís Cupenala pointed out, the main priorities are the revitalization of political-diplomatic relations as a macro structure for attracting private investment and improving economic relations.
Regarding the weight of Angola's debt with China, the official said that this is an opportunity for João Lourenço, in his "articulation capacity", to approach a possible renegotiation.
"Debt represents a very large weight on our Gross Domestic Product", said Luís Cupenala, recalling that, in 2022, the volume of trade reached 27.8 billion dollars, of which just over 23 billion dollars represented Angola's exports to China, essentially oil, and only four billion were imports of finished goods from China to Angola.
"We can ask whether, in fact, these exported volumes are having an impact on the lives of citizens", declared the Angolan businessman, highlighting that "the majority of these resources always serve to service the debt".
The official expressed hope that this would be one of the topics on the table, "to lighten the load", looking at the relationships that have existed for 40 years and the "articulation capacity" of the head of state in finding a space "to this gain that Angola seeks".
In 2023, trade between the two countries registered a drop, said Luís Cupenala, with 20 percent less in the country's exports to China and 15 percent in imports, the main cause being the reduction in oil production and the crisis global economic and financial situation, worsened by wars between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas.
